A/N: I do not..own..zzzzzzz....

Chapter 3

The Window

I woke around midnight with a headache, and realized that a branch had been stabbing into the back of my neck for the half an hour I'd been there. I stretched, and tensed my legs. Cleared my mind. What was I doing? I should have left. But I didn't. I waited two more hours for him to get home. When his bedroom door finally opened, I leapt onto the windowsill and tapped the glass.

He stared at me for a moment, surprised. Then he tiptoed over to the window and slid it slowly open.

"What are you doing here so late?" he said. "And in the rain, too."

It was then I remembered it was raining, and that my cloak was soaked through. I was a little embarrassed. But why was I? It was just the rain. Why should I be embarrassed?

"I ran off earlier, and I wanted to know how we plan to close the barrier," I lied. "Would you mind filling me in?"

A flicker of what seemed to be disappointment flickered in his eyes. But why?

"Yes. I'll tell you everything. But only after you come inside and change clothes. You're soaked, and I won't have you getting sick." He seemed tired. Old almost. "And don't try to tell me, 'demons don't get sick', because they do." He forced a smile. "Especially waterlogged fire demons."

My pride was burned, but that didn't last long. It was Kurama. How could I stay mad at him? I lowered myself into his room carefully, and rushed into his bathroom and back with a towel before I could get the carpeting wet. After toweling myself off, I changed into the clothes that had appeared on the bed. A long-sleeve white t-shirt and jeans. Kurama was hanging my cape up in the doorway.

"You should take better care of yourself. Get an apartment or something. You'll be here for the rest of your life now. Adapt to it." There was no bitterness in his voice, only sadness. I understood why, though many would have missed it. When Kurama died, he would return to demon world, and would never see—or maybe even care about—the Reikai Tantei ever again. My heart broke when I thought about that. He wouldn't be my Shuiichi...wait a minute. MY Shuiichi? He wasn't mine...what was that supposed to mean anyways?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a sheet snapping in the air.

"I'll lay a futon out here for tonight, but be sure not to wake my mother in the morning. She isn't expecting a boy who looks my age asleep in my room. Can you imagine?" He laughed. "That's all I need."

I did not understand his humor. Perhaps this statement had an underlying meaning that would be of some use later. "Thank you," I said, almost too quietly for him to hear. "You're so kind to me..."

"Not a problem. How could I even dream of being mean to you, of all people?" his words were even softer than mine had been. He threw himself upon his bed, spread-eagled. "Now, for the mission explanation. You know that we were planning on closing the barrier, but how? It has remained open for thousands of years, so why can we close it now? When a demon recently tried to open the barrier, we realized what could close the barrier. What if we could make a demon so powerful that it's only spirit energy? We could use its essence to scare away smaller demons—plus, it would be unbreakable. Force would be futile.

"One such demon was recently discovered. His name is Higoki. Powerful though he is—an S class demon, as a matter of fact—he is peaceful. He wants an end to the wars between the human and demon worlds. But to seal the barrier with his energy, we need a sealing force powerful enough to place his energy inside the hole."

"So basically," I said, barely containing my sarcasm, "Koenma needs us to push a cork into a bottle?"

Kurama laughed. "Exactly."

"Hn." I laid down on my futon and crossed my arms behind my head. "These missions just keep getting more trivial."

"True," he said, playing with one of long locks of hair. I wondered absently if his hair was soft. "But someone has to do trivial things, or you can't move on to the bigger jobs."

Another hidden statement. Who were you waiting for to finish, Kurama?

I thought about saying something to him. About the thoughts I couldn't seem to control. About the new feelings I'd been having. But I found myself rendered speechless. I was unable to tell him something for the first time since I'd met him. It was an odd feeling.

As though he could read my mind, he said, "Something troubling you, Hiei?"

I froze up. I knew he could tell that I was uncomfortable, and that knowledge was a major blow to my ego, but my ego was the least of my worries at that point. I had to tell him.

"I've been...hiding something from you for about a month now," I said quietly. "I don't know if it would be a good idea for you to find out, either."

He showed great interest in that statement. He turned over to face me. "Go on."

"I've been having these strong emotions..." I stopped. I could feel the hope radiating off of his aura, and it confused me. Did he know? How could he? I shook my head and continued. "For someone and I'm having trouble dealing with them."

"What sort of feelings?" he said gently.

"I can't describe it," I said, my voice noticeably shaking. "It's too hard."

"Well, you should try to express those feelings to the person. It might help you figure them out."

I nodded. "Thank you, Kurama."

"It's Shuiichi," he said quietly before falling asleep.